Hand strengthening is a critical aspect of a balanced MMA training regimen.

Mixed martial artists often overlook one body part in strength training: the hand.

How do you make a fist?

With your hand.

For your stand-up and ground game, what body part can make all the difference?

If you said "the hand", then you would be correct.

Vanity Focus

As professional Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu training instructors, it's obvious to us that hand strengthening is an essential part of a balanced training regimen. Regrettably, many students overlook this reality and instead focus on vanity aspects of training: "Look how big my pipes are." MMA is about hand-to-hand, not bicep-to-bicep combat.Continue reading →

On Saturday, April 28, 2012, one of Brazilian Top Team Plano's members participated in the 1st annual Samurai Gi Challenge in Keller, Texas. The event for kids and teens was a round-robin style Brazilian Jiu Jitsu tournament operated under IBJJF rules and divisions.

Our team member, David Ray, represented the school in the 6-7 year old (45-55 lbs.) bracket. David stayed focused, fought hard, executed top-level techniques and showed respect on the mats. In other words, David was the embodiment of what we encourage all of our students to be.

This post is part of an ongoing blog series covering Brazilian Top Team Plano self-defense tutorials for mixed martial arts (MMA). The aim of this series is to provide you with some of BTT Plano's best training tips through concise video segments and written reviews. Whether you're a novice or experienced athlete, you should follow our blog to learn more.

BTT Plano self-defense courses can incorporate multiple aspects of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu--where grappling techniques and application are the focus--and Muay Thai--where stand-up skills include attacks and maneuvers with the elbows and knees.

This post is Part 2 of an ongoing blog series covering Brazilian Top Team Plano Muay Thai tutorials for mixed martial arts (MMA). The aim of this series is to provide you with some of BTT Plano’s best training tips through concise video segments and written reviews. Whether you’re a novice or experienced athlete, you should follow our blog to learn more.

Head Coach Kale Sims (left) with BTT Plano team member, Tyler Morgan.

In Brazilian Top Team Plano Muay Thai classes, we constantly stress learning through disciplined repetition–both on and off the mat. This tutorial series is designed to encourage both.

Today, we follow our previous "Low Kick" tutorial with a short instructional video featuring our Head Muay Thai Coach, Kale Sims. In the short video below, Coach Sims will walk us through the proper mechanics for throwing a knee. The goal of this exercise is to illustrate the fundamentals of hip movement in Muay Thai.